EL PASO, Texas – It took UTEP an extra five minutes to finally shut down a pesky SMU basketball team Saturday night as the Miners won in overtime, 70-64.

It almost didn’t happen though as the Mustangs were oh-so-close to winning the game with a last second shot at the end of the game.

With 48 seconds left in regulation, UTEP’s Mike Perez tied the game at 53 with a free throw. SMU turned the ball over after a shot clock violation and Perez missed a long three-point shot leaving 1.2 seconds on the clock.

SMU (9-8, 1-2 C-USA) got the ball inbounds only to have it swatted away by Gabe McCulley leaving half a second on the clock. The craziness then began.

SMU inbounded the ball to the Mustangs’ Robert Nyakundi who buried a three-point jumper just before the buzzer sounded. SMU head coach Mat Doherty jumped with jubilation and then he and bench ran down the sideline to congratulate the Miners in an attempt to get off the court. They were stopped after referees said the shot would be reviewed.

Doherty looked as if the wind had been taken from him.

A sigh of relief came from the UTEP bench and the fans as referees announced Nyakundi’s shot was late and the basket was waived off.

McCulley, who was assigned to defend Nyakundi, was nervous about the waning seconds of regulation.

“That scared me,” McCulley said. “It’s scary having a play like that (at the end of the game). You don’t want to foul him, but luckily, it all worked out for us.”

“Thank the basketball gods for that one,” McCulley said as he chuckled.

UTEP (9-9, 2-2 C-USA) was able to put away the Mustangs in overtime thanks to clutch free throw shooting, 10 of 12, and simply out hustling the Mustangs. SMU’s Jeremiah Samarrippas pulled the Mustangs to within three points (67-64) with 21 seconds left, but UTEP closed out the game with ther free throws.

John Bohannon finished the night with a monster performance as he recorded 20 points, tying his career high, with 14 of them coming in the second half and in overtime. His play was critical in the extra time as Bohannon was 4-4 from the free throw line.

“John Bohannon played really well,” Floyd said. “He has improved a great deal at the line from where he was a year ago. I thought Gabe McCulley did a great job on Nyakundi defensively. Probably the stretch that helped change the game for us was a couple of picks and steals by Mike Perez and Julian Washburn that led to easy transition baskets when we were down eight. We kind of got our head up a little bit and got the crowd into the game.”

Perez, who finished the game with 16 points, had some critical steals in the game that helped jumpstart the Miners.

“I was just trying to stay within the rhythm of the game,” Perez said. “I was able to get up in the passing lanes and we were able to take care and finish in the open floor.”

Overtime almost didn’t happen as the Miners found themselves in a hole at halftime. SMU went on a 20-7 run over the first and second halves. At one point it seemed as if UTEP couldn’t find a way to stop the Princeton-style offense the Mustangs ran.

“They exposed us the last four minutes of the first half and first five or six minutes of the second half,” Floyd said. “We were beaten on drives by virtually everybody from the top of the key during that stretch. I thought our guys made a nice adjustment to guarding the dribble. Then they went to a post-up game with Mike Perez and Jacques Streeter as the defenders, and we did a solid job of making that adjustment.”

Slowly, the Miners began to chip away at the Mustang lead and overtook SMU thanks to a 3-point shot with four minutes left in the second half making the score 50-48. After the basket, both teams played as if they were fighting to the death, eventually leading towards the overtime period and eventual UTEP win.

Conference play continues when UTEP takes on East Carolina on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Haskins Center on “Texas Western Throwback Night.” The Miners will wear vintage 1966 Texas Western uniforms, and former NBA All-Star Antonio Davis will be honored.

Chris Avila can be reached at show@minerillustrated.com or you can follow him on Twitter at @chrisavila_01.